17 Injured People Received at Lashkar-Gah Surgical Centre

On Friday, 21 March 2025, an explosion took place in a market in Grishk, in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, just one hour north of Lashkar-Gah.

Immediately following the explosion, two ambulances were sent from EMERGENCY’s nearby First Aid Posts in Shoraki and Nad Ali to enable prompt transfers to the NGO’s Surgical Centre in Lashkar-Gah.

The hospital received 17 injured people, of whom five are in critical condition, five are in stable condition, and seven have other injuries related to the explosion.

“Our ambulances have been rotating non-stop between our First Aid Posts in Grishk and the hospital in Lashkar-Gah,” reports Dejan Panic, EMERGENCY’s Country Director in Afghanistan. “The situation is serious: the patients we have received have various wounds and traumas, five are in critical condition. Our team are taking care of them.”

EMERGENCY has not managed a violent mass casualty in the Lashkar-Gah Surgical Centre in many years.

“The explosion inside the Grishk market has caused deaths and many injuries, which we are treating in our hospital,” continues Dejan Panic. “Meanwhile, patients are also coming from other areas of Helmand, in need of trauma care for other issues. The hospital is working to manage all the arrivals.”

Present in Afghanistan since 1999, EMERGENCY has two Surgical Centres in Kabul and Lashkar-gah, a Surgical & Paediatric Centre and a Maternity Centre in Anabah (Panjshir Valley), and a wide network of First Aid Posts and Primary Healthcare Centres.

Amidst severe economic and humanitarian crises, nearly half the population of Afghanistan live below the poverty line and are unable to afford basic necessities (OCHA). In nearly 30 years of activity, EMERGENCY has always provided free, high-quality care to the Afghan people.